Lina steps closer to Nik, something unreadable flickering behind her eyes. It’s not the way she looked at me. But it’s something. Careful. Wounded. Wanting.
“You came,” she whispers.
She lifts a trembling hand, fingertips brushing his sleeve like she’s afraid he’ll vanish. And then he pulls her into him. She sinks into his embrace, like she’s home. For a moment, nothing else exists.
Johnny clears his throat. "We all need to talk," he says, though it’s hard to tell if he means about us... or about the war we’re dragging in behind us.
“We should all stay,” Sean says. “Just for the night. It’s late. I’m sure everyone wants to catch up, and then we can hash everything out in the morning.”
No one argues.
Lina looks between us—me, Nik, Johnny, Sean—like she can’t decide who to corner first. She nods once, her expression calm.
"Can we talk?" she asks Nik, then glances back at me. I nod, even though I know it’s not my conversation. She turns and heads down the hall, and I move to follow.
Johnny exhales, finally dropping his keys on the table.
Sean raises an eyebrow as I pass. “Well,” he says. “This should be fun.”
“Yeah,” I mutter. “What could possibly go wrong?”
Chapter 31
Aro
The hallway feels too long. Or maybe it’s just the silence stretching between the three of us.
I stop outside the unused guest suite that Sean ditched ages ago to crash with me instead.
“In here.”
They follow, and the door clicks shut behind us. I move to the small sitting area and sink into the armchair, leaving the couch open for them.
For a moment, no one speaks. We just stare. It’s surreal, seeing them again. Both of them. A part of me wished for this for so long, but now that it’s happening… I don’t know what to say. What to do. Where to begin.
Axel breaks the silence.
“So, this is the part where you explain what the hell is going on,” he says—not to me, but to Nik. His brow lifts, but there’s no amusement in it.
Nik rolls his eyes, leaning back into the couch. “It’s like Johnny said. We’ve decided to combine resources and work together. It’s strategy. Nothing more.”
Axel scoffs. “There’s always more when it comes to Johnny.”
Nik shoots him a sharp look. “Don’t start.”
Watching them bicker is... confusing. Not just because it’s tense, but because I can’t read it. I can’t pin down theirrelationship.Are they still friends? Still together?Their words are barbed, but something in the way they sit, the space they don’t put between them... it's electric. Familiar. And it makes me question everything.
Axel exhales sharply, leaning forward, resting his forearms on his knees. Then he turns to me. His eyes land with force. That deep, unwavering gaze that used to undo me without a single word.
“I forgot how easily you could see me,” I say softly, before I even realize I’m thinking it.
“I never stopped,” he replies, just as quiet. “Even when you weren’t looking.”
Nik doesn't move, but I feel him watching me. Watchingus. And I’m caught in the pull of two different kinds of gravity. The silence stretches again, heavier this time. There’s too much in it. Unspoken things. History. Hurt.
Finally, I break it. “So, are you two still… together?”
Nik’s jaw flexes, while Axel looks at me like the question physically stung.
